CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.59.

Several brokerages have commented on CSX. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on CSX from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on CSX in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in CSX by 4.3% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 23,793 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in CSX by 18.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CSX by 4.9% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 32,689 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its holdings in CSX by 1.8% in the second quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 18,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CSX by 33.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $33.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.20. CSX has a 52 week low of $29.03 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.13.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. CSX had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 29.58%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.37%.

CSX Company Profile

CSX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides rail-based freight transportation services. The company offers rail services; and transportation of intermodal containers and trailers, as well as other transportation services, such as rail-to-truck transfers and bulk commodity operations. It also transports chemicals, agricultural and food products, minerals, automotive, forest products, fertilizers, and metals and equipment; and coal, coke, and iron ore to electricity-generating power plants, steel manufacturers, and industrial plants, as well as exports coal to deep-water port facilities.